What question did taking Fort Ticonderoga raise?
Taking Ticonderoga raised the question of luring Canada into the rebellion. Many hoped that Quebec Province would become the fourteenth colony, so much so that Congress approved a two-pronged invasion in the late summer of 1775. One column under General Richard Montgomery, a former British officer who had resettled in America, traveled down Lake Champlain and seized Montreal. The second column under Colonel Benedict Arnold proceeded on a harrowing march through the woods of Maine and finally emerged before the walls of Quebec City. Early on the morning of December 31, 1775, combined forces under these two commanders boldly tried to take the city but were repulsed. Montgomery lost his life, Arnold was seriously wounded, and great numbers of patriot troops were killed or captured. The rebel attempt to seize Canada had failed. This effort, however, made it increasingly difficult to argue that the colonists were only interested in defending their homes and families until political differen
